Dental Development: An Aid to Give Identities and to Inform General Health

Abstract:

This project is a series of four Knowledge Exchange programmes, namely Student KE Project entitled "Giving an identity to undocumented children in Chennai, India", Service 100/Student KE Projects entitled "Aiding age estimation for orphans in Guangxi, Mainland China" and "Dental outreach project - to special-need groups in Nanning & Liuzhou, Guangxi, Mainland China", as well as WAY Fund Project entitled "Oral health service and education for young people in Southern District of Hong Kong". The project applied knowledge gained by the Faculty of Dentistry regarding "dental development" and "dental age assessment" to unregistered children in India, as well as less privileged children in Mainland China and Hong Kong. With the help of NGOs in India and Hong Kong, the project team has used multiple methods to achieve its intended aims, through age estimation, oral examinations/anthropometric assessments and follow-ups, in-depth consultations, and personalised oral health instructions. Educational campaigns for parents in rural areas and seminars to teachers of primary schools and orphanages have also been conducted to sustain the project efforts. To maximise knowledge transfer, workshops on "Age Assessment in Dentistry" have been offered to train forensic practitioners and dentists. Furthermore, a charity to promote accurate birth records has been established to extend the impact of the project.